Two sisters have a remarkable guest arrive at their home, but the way they react is strikingly different. One sister is all preparation and distraction, and the other all stillness and devotion. What is the ‘better part’ Jesus wants us to choose? Vicky Gibbens is joined by Joanna Weaver, whose spent more than four decades in full-time ministry as a pastor’s wife, is a speaker, and the author of ‘Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life’.

[Originally broadcast the week of 9th October 2023]

Can Christians influence culture, without needing to label content as "Christian”?

Can we separate faith from our creativity?

And how do you shape culture rather than let culture shape you?

Helen is joined by Norman Stone, a BAFTA and Emmy-award winning Director, who doesn't make 'Christian films' but is a Christian who makes films in this week’s Life Issues.

This week on Life Issues we are boldly going where no one has gone before, except those who have. And while we might not visit a galaxy far far away – the truth is out there with a message from the stars that may show us the hand of an architect that made the sun 400 times bigger than the moon, but put the moon 400 times closer to the earth. It’s an unlikely coincidence resulting in a perfect eclipse - so is there a message there? Available now on UCB player it’s our latest podcast: Space, who’s really speaking to us?

[Originally broadcast the week of 31st May 2021]

To be a grandparent is a special thing and not to be taken lightly. It’s a position of privilege, so how do you be the Granny and Grandad that your children, as well as your grandchildren, need you to be?

In Ecclesiastes we read there is a time to be born and a time to die, but what about the middle phase of life? In this week’s Life Issues, Jayne Manfredi, an Anglican Deacon and author of Waking the Women: Faith, Menopause, and the Meaning of Midlife, shared with Vicky Gibbens how it should not be framed as a time of loss for women, but of discovery.

[Originally broadcast the week of 12th February 2024]

What is life like with a severe mental illness? And what stigma generated by news headlines might you still face? Sharon Hastings qualified as a doctor, but lives with a psychotic illness. In this week’s Life Issues with Paul Hammond, she challenges the misconceptions around psychosis and shares what we can do to help.

[Originally broadcast the week of 5th June 2023]

What stops you believing in God? Maybe unanswered questions? But what if doubt and the mystery of God is part of what makes faith so powerful? Helping Helen explore how we can embrace the unknown is Zach Bolan, lead singer of Indie-Rock group Citizens, in this week’s Life Issues.

When Lucy climbed into the wardrobe, C.S. Lewis opened a world that has enchanted children and adults for generations. And it’s why we dedicated a Life Issues to the 75th anniversary of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. But the truth is there was so much more to C.S. Lewis than Narnia – books on faith/love and Sci fi – a boy from Belfast who could hold court in academia – and a man who gave hope to a nation in darkest times. So, in this week’s Life Issues join us as we discover C.S. Lewis: Beyond the wardrobe.

[Originally broadcast the week of 14th March 2022]

It can increasingly feel as if we are living in a society that has moved on from Christianity – either deeming it irrelevant or responsible for doing more harm than good. In this Life Issues, Sharon James encourages us to take confidence from and maybe shout about the way Christianity has changed the world, and share a Gospel that is and has always been a force for good.

In the 75th year of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, we ask what is it about the fictional land of Narnia in the classic novel by C.S. Lewis that continues to entice and entertain children and adults alike? Adventure and faith discovery in Narnia is the latest Life Issues podcast with Vicky Gibbens and her guest Dr Jem Bloomfield.